Valentine lives above her family’s funeral parlour and occasionally helps out. She has no friends and carries her guinea pig, Bully, around with her at all times. But one day Bully chews through a wire, and the resulting electric shock transfers the soul of a deceased policeman into his body. Bully now speaks with the voice of Herr Kasimir, the very tetchy police commissioner.

Valentine and her tiny police advisor, aided by his enormous snifferdog, proceed to thwart an evil scheme by a wicked carer with a habit of murdering her elderly patients. Valentine is a thoroughly modern child, making great use of her smart phone to photograph evidence, summon help and communicate vital information. She is a whizz on the Internet too, of course, and can find any information that the police commissioner needs. At least he manages to enter his password with his little paws so she can read his emails ...

Endres tackles serious themes alongside plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. The Day My Guinea Pig Became A Police Inspector is a wonderfully wacky story with an unlikely hero and a delightful heroine.

Brigitte Endres was born in Würzburg, and studied history and German literature before becoming a teacher. She discovered her talent for making up stories when she started writing for her pupils, and it was not long before she published her first book for children. This was followed by several others for various publishing houses and Bavarian broadcasting companies. Today Endres works fulltime as a freelance author.

Thienemann-Esslinger Verlag was formed in 2014 when two of the oldest and most renowned children’s book publishers in Germany joined forces, combining the imprints Thienemann, Esslinger, Planet Girl and Gabriel.